much more serious turn, but in so regular and smooth a manner, no party speaking till the other had finished, that I began to fancy myself in a church or conventicle; when he, who had spoken out upon the money question, suddenly stood up, his face changed from the calm, pleasing, quiet demeanour it wore, to one of fierce contending passions-hair dishevelled, and eyes blood-shotten; stretching forth his hand, which was small and very white, he demanded to "shake hands"-I have always had a most instinctive horror of drunken men; thinking him as such, I drew back and refused; his companions immediately interfered and expostulated; notwithstanding, I resolutely refused; exclaiming, "not so, sirs," drunkards never were my companions, neither shall they ever be. I can tolerate enjoyment, and upon occasions have looked upon excess, but "whoso putteth an enemy into his mouth to steal away his brains," 1 associate not with, and especially shake not hands with, therefore let me pass. And pressing forward with that intention, he placed his hand again before me, which now was blackened and seemed hard with labor-"Now will you shake hands?" said he. "1f," I replied, "it is to test me, whether I will embrace the hardy sons of toil, and take them by the hand, my answer is, I will, but in no other sense." Whereupon, his features resumed their former mild expression, and smiling, he said "Thou hast judged right, it will be thy fate, and thy work will indeed be hard"grasping it, therefore, with more than supernatural strength he pressed it till I thought every bone was broken.

“Well,” I replied, after having released my hand from the more than vice-like pressure it had encountered, "I shall, certainly, remembered you again wheresoever I may see you"--at which he smiled upon his companions a most significant smile, and said, "I told you he would when he was tried upon the poor man's question," and he added, "you see he says he shall know me again”—“Oh yes," was my reply, "there is no fear on that score whatever." They then all rose from their seats and essayed to go; but first, one, of whom I have not before spoken, or alluded to, but who joined in the long and spirit-stirring subjects that were discussed, said, "Well," (calling me by my name) "what thinkest thou of thy evening's amusement, for thou seemest as if it had given thee much pleasure?" "Sir," I replied, "I have heard such sentiments this night, and dilated upon in such a way, that were it not for the place in which we are assembled, and the garbs you are arrayed in, I should have thought I had been in the company of angels, rather than of men"-whereupon they all closed round about me, and with one voice said, "You have! you have !" and immediately my sight seemed to be gone, and I stood up bowing down my head in humble, holy fear. A conviction that what they said was true flashed through my mind-the extraordinary way in which I had heard myself speak on subjects of which I knew I was, comparatively, ignorant-the deference with which I had received all their observations and an indescribable sensation that ran through my whole frame, convinced me I stood in the presence of those who were of more than mortal mould. "Oh! sirs," 1 exclaimed, "if there is any path laid out for me in which I am to walk, I do not now perceive, set me on it straight, that I may run my course with zeal and fidelity, that I may walk and not faint-and when finished, let my

96

THE BRITISH SPIRITUAL TELEGRAPH.

soul "mount the starry world and triumph over death and hell." This I said with much emphasis and enthusiasm, bowing my head before them; and then I heard these words, 'Come let us anoint him, and set him forth upon his high mission,' and immediately they passed their fingers through my hair, accompanying it with a blessing, and an invocation that the "gift" they then presented me with might be well employed there was then dead silence, and I looked up, and behold I was alone! (to be continued.)

THE RELIGIOUS REVIVAL IN IRELAND.

A Ballymena paper thus describes the appearance of a young girl who was tricken the other day whilst in church along with her father:-After the congregation had dispersed, the girl was carried to an open passage of the church and placed in the arms of her father, who had there seated himself upon the floor. In that position we had every opportunity of observing her for half an hour. Her physical condition was neither epileptic nor in the slightest degree resembling that influenced by an ordinary fainting fit. The colour of her face was natural-neither pale nor flushed. When previously affected her eyes remained open during the entire time of visitation, but they were now firmly closed, and with the exception of an occasional gentle movement of the lips and a tremulous motion of the eyes, clearly perceptible beneath the eyelids, her features were in profound repose. Her pulse was full, and beat with strength and perfect regularity, but considerably slower than it is usually found in children. The heat of her body was natural, and in general she breathed calmly; but there were several momentary intervals wherein her respiration became extremely hurried, a flattering motion being then perceptible about the neck and breast, accompanied by a slight nervous movement of the arms and hands. She was restored to consciousness in about three hours, but for more than an hour afterwards she was unable to move her lips or articulate a single syllable. Her eyes, when first opened, did not appear to be cognisant of any object within view, but they subsequently assumed an expression of tranquil happiness; and when she regained the power of speech she did not, as on the former occasion, make reference to any scenes which had been presented to her imagination during the interval of visitation. The loss of speech is a new and very mysterious feature in some of the recent cases, where mental impression is accompanied by external influence upon the body.

In the paper from which we take the above is contained an extract from the Rev. W. M'Ilwaine's Sermon in which he denies the spiritual origin of these manifestations telling us that they are a "disease." We intend to furnish our readers with the account of this wonderful discovery in his own words. Want of space prevents us giving it in the present No. as well as the other papers referred to in our last-Ed.

The following is a copy of a placard which we learn is posted at the different places therein named and it will give our readers an idea of what is going on in these localities.

"Jubilee. On Sunday, August 14th, 1859, the Christian Spiritualists will (at the request of their Spirit friends) hold their first Grand Jubilee in their place of Worship, Sun Street, Keighley; on which occasion mediums will be invited from Bradford, Halifax, Haworth, &c. Services to commence at half-past one o'clock in the Afternoon and half-past five in the Evening.

Also on the following Sunday, August 21st, a Camp Meeting will be held on Shipley Glen, to which the Public generally are invited and particularly all classes of Spiritualists from Bradford, Halifax, Haworth, Keighley, Leeds, &c. &c. The Meeting to commence at half-past one o'clock in the Afternoon. "Then a spirit passed before my face,"-Joв. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light."-ISAIAH."

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Communications to be addressed, "B. MORRELL, Keighley, Yorkshire."
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British Spiritual Telegraph,

(PUBLISHED ON THE 1st AND 15th OF EACH MONTH,)

It is well sometimes to examine a subject under different and con. trasted lights, as by doing so we are less liable to extreme and one-sid. ed veiws of it than we should otherwise be; and are more likely to at tain an impartial, and probably, correct judgment by thus seeing it all round, and comparing its different aspects. In the case of the Spiritual Manifestations detailed in our last paper, we have the same general facts presented from an opposite point of view, together with many additional particulars in "A Narrative of Facts, characterizing the Supernatural Manifestations in members of Mr. Irving's congregation, and other individuals in England and Scotland, and formerly in the writer himself," by Robert Baxter.

This "Narrative," as the title implies, was written by a formerly "gifted person," whose gift was exercised chiefly amongst Mr. Irving's con gregation; but who finally abandoned and denounced the work as a delusion of Satan." One therefore intimately acquainted with the "Supernatural Manifestations" and not likely to display them in too favourable a light. First, let us look at the writer's Facts, then compare his inferences with those of Mr. Irving and with the facts themselves; and look at both facts and inferences by the additional light of more recent and widely extended facts with which we are acquainted.

Mr. Baxter fully, though reluctantly, admits the supernatural character of the manifestations. "He is not anxious to prove it supernatu ral; he would be glad to account for it otherwise." "Excitement," Ec

LONDON: F. PITMAN, 20, PATERNOSTER ROW, E. C.

centricity," "Derangement," he tells us, are "utterly insufficient to account for these operations. Men far from excitable in their general state of mind, and in nothing eccentric, have been found among the most devoted followers. The workings have moreover, been as strong in the privacy of the closet as in the tumult of crowded assembliesand when once the mind became open to such workings, no change of outward circumstances has ever had any extensive or perceptible controul over it. Neither will derangement furnish the required solution. The operations of this power were most systematic as well as sympathetic." "He has often endeavoured to pursue the course of circumstances, and account for the occurences from excitement, and the frenzied workings of a distempered mind; but he finds himself utterly at a loss, and, without shutting his eyes to most of the material features of the case, he could not honestly come to such a conclusion."

We present, in the authors own language, some of the more striking and characteristic incidents recorded in this "Narrative of Facts."

Mr. Baxter "had heard many particulars of the extraordinary manifestations which had occurred at Port Glasgow," and thought that there were sufficient grounds in Scripture and in the existing state of the church and of the world to warrant a fair investigation of them. Being called up to London by professional engagements in August 1831, he "had a strong desire to attend at the prayer meetings which were then privately held by those who spoke in the power, and those who sought for the gifts." Having obtained an introduction, he attended, and heard "the utterances," both in the unknown and in the English tongue. In the latter, there was, he says "a cutting rebuke to all who were present, and applicable to my own state of mind in particular. In the midst of the feeling of awe and reverence which this produced, I was myself seized upon by the power; and in much struggling against it, was made to cry out, and myself to give forth a confession of my own sin in the matter for which we were rebuked. There was in me at the time of the utterance, very great excitement; and yet I was distinctly conscious of a power acting upon me beyond the mere power of excitement."

"From this period, for the space of five months, I had no utterances in public; though, when engaged alone in private prayer, the power would come down upon me, and cause me to pray with strong crying and tears for the state of the church. On one occasion, about a month after I had received the power, whilst in my study, endeavouring to lift up my soul to God in prayer, my mind was so filled with worldly con

cerns that my thoughts were wandering to them continually. Ag and again I began to pray, and before a minute had passed, I found thoughts had wandered from my prayer back into the world. I much distressed at this temptation, and sat down, lifting up a short culation to God for deliverance; when suddenly the power came de upon me, and I found myself lifted up in soul to God, my wander. thoughts at once rivetted, and calmness of mind given me. By ac straint I cannot describe, I was made to speak-at the same time shri ing from utterance, and yet rejoicing in it. The utterance was a pr Lood would have mercy upon me and deliver me from fle y We hness, and graciously bestow upon me the gifts of his Spirit. T prayer, was forced from me by the constraint of the power which aerod upon me; and the utterance was so loud, that I put the handkerchief to my mouth to stop the sound that I might not alarm the house. When I had reached the last word (of the prayer) the power died off me, and I was left just as before, save in amazement at what had passed, and filled, as it seemed to me, with thankfulness to God for his great love so manifest to me. With the power there came upon me a strong conviction-“This is the Spirit of God: what you are now praying is of the Spirit of God, and must, therefore, be the mind of God, and what you are asking will surely be given to you."

"In the utterances of the power which subsequently occurred, many were accompanied with the flashing in of conviction on the mind, like lightning rooting itself in the earth. Whilst other utterances, not be ing so accompanied, only acted in the way of authoritative communica tion; upon which the mind was left to form its own conclusion and conviction. This was not singly my own case, but the case with many others; and my persuasion is that such a manner of conviction is a part of the power which a spirit exercises over us."

In January 1882, he again visited the brethren in London, the gifts in Mr. Irving's church were now being exercised in the public congregation. The day following his arrival, being called upon by the pastor to read, he opened upon the the prophet Malachi, and read the Fourth chapter. “As I read," says Mr. B. "the power came upon me, and I was made to read in the power. My voice, raised far beyond its natural pitch, with constrained repetition of parts, and with the same inward uplifting which at the presence of the power I had always before experienced. When I knelt down to pray, I was carried out to pray in the power for the presence and blessing of God in the midst of the church; in all this I had great joy and peace, without any of the strugglings which had attended my former utterances in the power."